UP bypolls: CM Yogi Adityanath asks voters not to let Azamgarh become a 'den of terrorism'

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Azamgarh: Calling Samajwadi Party and BSP "Rahu-Ketu" for UP's development, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday urged the Azamgarh voters to maintain a distance from the two parties, asking them not to let the parliamentary constituency become a "den of terrorism". Addressing an election rally at Chakrapanpur in Azamgarh to seek support for BJP candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirauha', Adityanath said, "Be it the SP or the BSP, they are the Rahu and Ketu for UP's development. They are evil planets for development. The more you maintain distance from them, development will come closer towards you."

However, he did not mention which party is 'Rahu' and which one is 'Ketu'. Azamgarh, along with Rampur, will go to polls on June 23.

Lok Sabha bypolls in Azamgarh have been necessitated after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav resigned from the seat after winning 2022 Assembly elections from Karhal in Mainpuri. Adityanath on the occasion praised the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme and highlighted its benefits.

"The entire world has welcomed the 'Agnipath' scheme, while the opposition parties owing to their nature of playing with the life of the youth, have misguided them. We will give priority to the Agniveers in UP Police and other services. These youths will be gift for us, who would have the training, discipline and a feeling (of patriotism) towards the country during adverse time," the CM said.

Making a fervent appeal to the voters, he said, "Do not let Azamgarh become an 'aatankvaad ka garh' (den of terrorism). I have come here to make Azamgarh a Aryamgarh, and link it with development. Do not allow this opportunity (bypolls) go waste”. "The Samajwadi Party government had made Azamgarh a den of terrorism. The BSP also could not dissociate itself with this. But, it was the BJP's double engine government, which linked Azamgarh with development," Adityanath said.

Attacking the rivals over employment, the chief minister said, "Before 2017, whenever jobs were announced, the entire clan (apparently pointing towards the SP family) would come out for 'vasooli' (extortion). May God save everyone from this Saifai clan. We (the BJP) have given 5 lakh government jobs". "Bahanji's elephant's stomach is so huge that it never gets filled up. It used to eat the ration of the poor people and also the jobs meant for the youth," he said.

Taking a jibe at the previous governments, Adityanath said, "There was an identity crisis before the youth of Azamgarh (during the time of SP and BSP governments). At the time of the SP government, when the youth of Azamgarh used to go to other places in the country, they could not get rooms in the hotels and dharamshalas."

"The person whom you elected in Azamgarh, they left it and disappeared. We believe that Akhilesh ji has become the MLA, and he will not leave Azamgarh because it had stood by him during the crisis period. However, local workers (of SP) were apprehensive that he will cheat them," Adityanath said. The chief minister on this occasion also listed the achievements of the BJP government.

Accusing the SP of cheating the bypoll ticket aspirants, Adityanath said, "When it came to give the election ticket, I thought that the Samajwadi Party would definitely give an opportunity to a worker like Ram Darshan Yadav. But, once again the Saifai clan (family of Mulayam Singh Yadav) came up."

He also said that the BSP candidate (Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali) was also deceived by the SP. "He (Shah Alam) had gone to the SP, but it deprived him of the ticket. This is because it is in the nature of the Samajwadi Party to cheat," he said. Without taking names of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and party's patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, the chief minister said, "You (people of Azamgarh) have made two former chief ministers as MP, but they did not show any interest in the development of Azamgarh. The development of Azamgarh and that of Uttar Pradesh was of no meaning to them. What was meaningful for them was their own development and the development of their family."

"We talk about nationalism, they stop at dynastism. We talk about development, they talk about misleading the youth. The BSP and SP got an opportunity to come to power (in UP), but they cheated the people. These people have no agenda for development. The double engine government has removed all the hurdles," he said.

Adityanath also mentioned various welfare and future schemes and claimed that youths of this place will get jobs here itself, and would not have to go to Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata for jobs. The BJP leader addressed another election rally at Bilriyaganj in Azamgarh. Apart from BJP and SP, the Bahujan Samaj Party is also contesting the Lok Sabha bypolls, and has fielded Shah Alam as its candidate.

Samajwadi Party has fielded Dharmendra Yadav as its candidate from Azamgarh in the bypolls. Adityanath also said that he had earlier visited Azamgarh district hospital and Covid-infected locality and attacked the SP chief for comments that the anti-Covid vaccine is that of the BJP.

"When the country was fighting the pandemic, Akhilesh (Yadav) was misguiding the country. You did not become a partner ('sahyogi') during the crisis, but were misguiding (the people)," Adityanath said.

The double-engine government of the BJP provided free vaccines and free ration, he said. Meanwhile, throwing light on 'Rahu' and 'Ketu', Triloki Nath, a Lucknow-based astrologer who hails from Azamgarh, said, "Rahu is usually paired with Ketu, which is also considered to be a shadow planet from the astrological point of view. They are known as evil planets."

In March 2018, when the SP-BSP had come together for the bypolls to Gorakhpur and Phulpur parliamentary constituencies, Adityanath had described the two parties as "ker-ber" (banana and Indian plum) and asked as to whether the two different fruits could gel.

In the Lok Sabha bypolls to Gorakhpur and Phulpur, BJP suffered loss, as it was defeated by the BSP-backed Samajwadi Party. Significantly, Gorakhpur seat was earlier held by Adityanath while Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had held the Phulpur seat.